On a totally different note; anyone from Chicagoland planning on going to the National Drive Electric Week events in either Naperville or Rockford? I've sent a note off to the organizers of the Naperville event to see if they plan for L2/L3 charging as I'm sure more would attend if they knew that they could make the R/T without running out of 'juice'; this event is about 72 miles R/T for me so may be possible without but close, the Rockford one is 110 miles R/T (and unfortunately, doesn't have anyone signed up yet so must have just been added) so was out of the question without access to charging.

Another one, that has even a more interesting list of EV people signed up is in Madison, WI ... that one would require a charge stop on the way up and back (120 miles EACH WAY) ... if I only had a Tesla

redLEAF wrote:On a totally different note; anyone from Chicagoland planning on going to the National Drive Electric Week events in either Naperville or Rockford? I've sent a note off to the organizers of the Naperville event to see if they plan for L2/L3 charging as I'm sure more would attend if they knew that they could make the R/T without running out of 'juice'; this event is about 72 miles R/T for me so may be possible without but close, the Rockford one is 110 miles R/T (and unfortunately, doesn't have anyone signed up yet so must have just been added) so was out of the question without access to charging.

Another one, that has even a more interesting list of EV people signed up is in Madison, WI ... that one would require a charge stop on the way up and back (120 miles EACH WAY) ... if I only had a Tesla

I am planning to attend the one on Sunday September 20th (The Main, non-press event.) I am hoping they have a BMW i3 there though like they did last year. The list is getting better though since I last checked. I might go to the press event on the 13th too if I have time. If Gerald Nissan of Naperville is smart, they would open their dealerships CHAdeMO and J1772 stations up to the public that day since they are RIGHT NEXT to the test track where the event will be held. Otherwise there is Bill Jacobs BMW nearby and a Free L2 at Community Christian Church according to PlugShare.

redLEAF wrote:On a totally different note; anyone from Chicagoland planning on going to the National Drive Electric Week events in either Naperville or Rockford? I've sent a note off to the organizers of the Naperville event to see if they plan for L2/L3 charging as I'm sure more would attend if they knew that they could make the R/T without running out of 'juice'; this event is about 72 miles R/T for me so may be possible without but close, the Rockford one is 110 miles R/T (and unfortunately, doesn't have anyone signed up yet so must have just been added) so was out of the question without access to charging.

Another one, that has even a more interesting list of EV people signed up is in Madison, WI ... that one would require a charge stop on the way up and back (120 miles EACH WAY) ... if I only had a Tesla

I am planning to attend the one on Sunday September 20th (The Main, non-press event.) I am hoping they have a BMW i3 there though like they did last year. The list is getting better though since I last checked. I might go to the press event on the 13th too if I have time. If Gerald Nissan of Naperville is smart, they would open their dealerships CHAdeMO and J1772 stations up to the public that day since they are RIGHT NEXT to the test track where the event will be held. Otherwise there is Bill Jacobs BMW nearby and a Free L2 at Community Christian Church according to PlugShare.

Good to know that that there may be EV charging fairly close but I've reached out to the Naperville organizer to see if they plan to offer at the event itself; most dealers I would suspect would have their chargers shut off and/or behind a locked gate on Sunday's; will update this thread with any responses ...

redLEAF wrote:On a totally different note; anyone from Chicagoland planning on going to the National Drive Electric Week events in either Naperville or Rockford? I've sent a note off to the organizers of the Naperville event to see if they plan for L2/L3 charging as I'm sure more would attend if they knew that they could make the R/T without running out of 'juice'; this event is about 72 miles R/T for me so may be possible without but close, the Rockford one is 110 miles R/T (and unfortunately, doesn't have anyone signed up yet so must have just been added) so was out of the question without access to charging.

Another one, that has even a more interesting list of EV people signed up is in Madison, WI ... that one would require a charge stop on the way up and back (120 miles EACH WAY) ... if I only had a Tesla

I am planning to attend the one on Sunday September 20th (The Main, non-press event.) I am hoping they have a BMW i3 there though like they did last year. The list is getting better though since I last checked. I might go to the press event on the 13th too if I have time. If Gerald Nissan of Naperville is smart, they would open their dealerships CHAdeMO and J1772 stations up to the public that day since they are RIGHT NEXT to the test track where the event will be held. Otherwise there is Bill Jacobs BMW nearby and a Free L2 at Community Christian Church according to PlugShare.

Good to know that that there may be EV charging fairly close but I've reached out to the Naperville organizer to see if they plan to offer at the event itself; most dealers I would suspect would have their chargers shut off and/or behind a locked gate on Sunday's; will update this thread with any responses ...

Would be sweet if they had it on-site but as far as I know, they did not last year. I do know that Al Piemonte Nissan's L3 charger is not behind locked gates in Melrose Park, IL (even on Sundays and/or after business hours). Their L2 chargers are however... furthermore Star Nissan on Touhy Ave in Niles area has been open at random off-hour times. That gives me some hope!

Speaking of public chargers ... while I've never really had a need for one, we recently had to have our concrete driveway replaced so it will make my home garage L2 charger inaccessible for at least the next several days. It appears that there are indeed some new ones being put up; not terribly expensive (appears they run about $2/hr) but obviously much more than my 6.9 cents/kWh flat rate. I was going to even try a QC station as my '12 SL has one but it appears most within range still aren't working -- looks like Harper College has 2 L2's that had some recent positive reviews. Anyone else care to share some positive feedback on any others in the NW 'burbs (Palatine / Hoffman Estates / Schaumburg / Barrington / Inverness, etc.) ? Has to be fairly close to these areas because we would see how long it needs and leave it for other errands and return once its done over this weekend --- have re-activated my 'ChargePoint' account with a payment type so hopefully just a card swipe will make these work

redLEAF wrote:Speaking of public chargers ... while I've never really had a need for one, we recently had to have our concrete driveway replaced so it will make my home garage L2 charger inaccessible for at least the next several days. It appears that there are indeed some new ones being put up; not terribly expensive (appears they run about $2/hr) but obviously much more than my 6.9 cents/kWh flat rate. I was going to even try a QC station as my '12 SL has one but it appears most within range still aren't working -- looks like Harper College has 2 L2's that had some recent positive reviews. Anyone else care to share some positive feedback on any others in the NW 'burbs (Palatine / Hoffman Estates / Schaumburg / Barrington / Inverness, etc.) ? Has to be fairly close to these areas because we would see how long it needs and leave it for other errands and return once its done over this weekend --- have re-activated my 'ChargePoint' account with a payment type so hopefully just a card swipe will make these work

PlugShare is usually the best source of this information. If you are on the ChargePoint network then their app will typically tell you if the charger is in use or not. Most of the fast chargers have been updated by EvGO and the equipment is so much better in terms of the big heavy plug that goes into the car.

redLEAF wrote:Speaking of public chargers ... while I've never really had a need for one, we recently had to have our concrete driveway replaced so it will make my home garage L2 charger inaccessible for at least the next several days. It appears that there are indeed some new ones being put up; not terribly expensive (appears they run about $2/hr) but obviously much more than my 6.9 cents/kWh flat rate. I was going to even try a QC station as my '12 SL has one but it appears most within range still aren't working -- looks like Harper College has 2 L2's that had some recent positive reviews. Anyone else care to share some positive feedback on any others in the NW 'burbs (Palatine / Hoffman Estates / Schaumburg / Barrington / Inverness, etc.) ? Has to be fairly close to these areas because we would see how long it needs and leave it for other errands and return once its done over this weekend --- have re-activated my 'ChargePoint' account with a payment type so hopefully just a card swipe will make these work

PlugShare is usually the best source of this information. If you are on the ChargePoint network then their app will typically tell you if the charger is in use or not. Most of the fast chargers have been updated by EvGO and the equipment is so much better in terms of the big heavy plug that goes into the car.

Agreed, the PlugShare app is by far THE best when looking for public charging stations. I highly recommend using it and adding informational "check-ins" and even pictures when possible. That is how people find the stations, know that they are working, and plan ahead. I use it all the time and am surprised when I see that there are people like you RedLeaf who have had their LEAF much longer than me but really don't know much about public charging. Goes to show me that there really are different types of users out there! I feel like I am the master of finding/using free stations all over the Chicagoland area... both L2 and L3 stations!

redLEAF wrote:Speaking of public chargers ... while I've never really had a need for one, we recently had to have our concrete driveway replaced so it will make my home garage L2 charger inaccessible for at least the next several days. It appears that there are indeed some new ones being put up; not terribly expensive (appears they run about $2/hr) but obviously much more than my 6.9 cents/kWh flat rate. I was going to even try a QC station as my '12 SL has one but it appears most within range still aren't working -- looks like Harper College has 2 L2's that had some recent positive reviews. Anyone else care to share some positive feedback on any others in the NW 'burbs (Palatine / Hoffman Estates / Schaumburg / Barrington / Inverness, etc.) ? Has to be fairly close to these areas because we would see how long it needs and leave it for other errands and return once its done over this weekend --- have re-activated my 'ChargePoint' account with a payment type so hopefully just a card swipe will make these work

PlugShare is usually the best source of this information. If you are on the ChargePoint network then their app will typically tell you if the charger is in use or not. Most of the fast chargers have been updated by EvGO and the equipment is so much better in terms of the big heavy plug that goes into the car.

Agreed, the PlugShare app is by far THE best when looking for public charging stations. I highly recommend using it and adding informational "check-ins" and even pictures when possible. That is how people find the stations, know that they are working, and plan ahead. I use it all the time and am surprised when I see that there are people like you RedLeaf who have had their LEAF much longer than me but really don't know much about public charging. Goes to show me that there really are different types of users out there! I feel like I am the master of finding/using free stations all over the Chicagoland area... both L2 and L3 stations!

OK, looks like iOS has the PlugShare app so I'll give it a shot ... last check on the one I'm looking at was on 9/1 and 9.0 rating; I'll be sure to add mine if we end up using it; just like some EV drivers who never go for an L2 EVSE install at home, we adapt to what works best for us ... I'm sure I've amortized the cost (thanks to the 50% IL EPA EVSE rebate) of my charger by now so may use these public ones perhaps a bit more often -- thanks